


Uprooted in The Celestial Garden

by Arcane_Escape (Arcane_Palm)



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: At least in the BG, Attempt at Humor, But like a lil emo, But like way less than canon-typical stuff, Character Study, Gardens & Gardening, Gen, Generally Canon Compliant, I've never known how to tag and I never will :), Introspection, Light Angst, Short One Shot, Skunk Cabbages are essential to this story, Spoilers, There's a little bit of blood in this, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29495616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcane_Palm/pseuds/Arcane_Escape
Summary: In the marvelous, idyllic B. Garden, Luna finally replants that poor, poor skunk cabbage.(Happy 9th Anniversary VLR!)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Uprooted in The Celestial Garden

**Author's Note:**

> I think this is a good time to mention that I have no idea what I'm doing

A gentle breeze flows through the B. Garden, rustling leaves and gently stirring branches. The artificial sun hangs above the plants like an overbearing parent, ever-watching from its perch in the false sky. The stream rushes on, twisting and pooling with perfect grace, its shape toeing the line between unremarkable and uncanny. Grass grows along the water’s edge, bursting forth with unexpected vitality. Within this living, lifeless paradox, a figure kneels before the dirt, hands gripping tightly the handle of a shovel. With a huff, the tool is driven down into the earth (?) with incredible strength, piercing deep into the soil. A sudden bout of pain halts such spirited work almost as quickly as it began. The metal hits the ground with a dull  _ thud,  _ and a head bows in brief defeat. 

Further away, two silhouettes glance down at the water. One remarks, quite casually, about one time he had gone exploring a lake near his house and happened to find a dead frog. 

“It was tragic, or something like that. Made me a little squeamish, I’ll admit.”

Beside him, a woman scowls, her head leaning gently against her hand.

“And the relevance of that is…?”

“Well, this garden kind of reminds me of that lake... and I just thought it was a funny story,” he offers, slight disappointment in his voice. “ _ Imagine:  _ you’re just walking around, and then you find a dead frog. Hilarious!”

She crosses her arms, shaking her head intensely. 

“ _ No,  _ not hilarious, Sigma. Not funny at all, actually. It’s letdown after letdown from  _ you _ today, hmm?”

She laughs, bearing a cruel grin. The man sighs, entirely deflated by her words.

“If you insist, Alice.” 

He glances to the side, a sudden idea taking hold of him. 

“Hey… maybe you are All-ice.”

He smirks, showing off a mischievous look of his own.

“ _ What?”  _

_ “ _ I mean, you  _ are  _ being a little  _ cold  _ right now.”

The woman’s surprise quickly morphs into hatred, and the man does his absolute best to ignore her fatal leer.

“Hey, I’m sure  _ Luna  _ would find it funny. Isn’t that right, L—”

He turns around, expecting to find the helpful young woman standing behind him attentively. She had a tendency to just… be around. Helpfully. Enthusiastically. Always. It was a bit odd, now that he thought about it.

Kneeling amongst the large, ruffled leaves of the skunk cabbages, Luna sighs. The plants seem to be in good health: she doubly checked their leaves and flowers for an excessive number of pests, and she ensured the soil wasn’t too dry. She takes care in handling them, knowing well that with a quick misstep she could easily prompt them to let forth a pungent smell—their unfortunate namesake. With a gentle hum she stares at one of the plants, thrown haphazardly to the side by uncaring hands. She retrieves it from the dirt, holding it gingerly in her grasp. 

Such is life: even amongst strong brethren, what is a skunk cabbage without soil? 

She takes a deep breath, basking in the wonder of having something living, something  _ real _ beneath her fingertips. 

In truth, it is pure luck she did not hear Sigma’s words: certainly a story he deemed “hilarious” would upset her. Life is something to be cherished, after all. 

Observing the plant’s roots, she finds the rhizome is still mostly intact. 

“Oh, it’s a good thing you’re ok,” she murmurs, dusting off the great leaves. “But let’s put you back in the ground now, alright? It’s bound to be much better than sitting up here where you can barely get any nutrients!”

She pats the cabbage affectionately, quickly glancing over its peers. 

“You’re like a fish out of water, aren’t you? I wonder why they chose  _ you  _ to hide a secret.”

A golden box had laid beneath its grand roots, just one piece of the massive, grand puzzle that is the B. Garden. 

“Maybe we aren’t so different, after all…” 

Her voice remains low, her bright eyes quickly stealing a glance at her distant companions. 

“I’m not as helpful as you were, though,” she admits, her shoulders falling. “You’ve done great, little one.”

With a sigh, Luna squints at the others once more.

“I-I know Sigma said he’d replant you later, but I have a feeling he might forget. And Alice seems pretty busy as well…”

She trails off, watching as the man quivers in fear of Alice’s fury.

“Humans… they have so  _ much  _ potential. They can do incredible things,” she continues, a slight smile on her face. “They can be  _ so _ kind,  _ so  _ caring. But sometimes it’s hard for them to relate to things that aren’t, well,  _ human. _ ”

She brushes a leaf one final time, setting the cabbage down to the side.

With a heavy sigh, Luna takes the shovel again, positioning her hands to dig. As she grabs for the smooth plastic, her right hand retracts in pain. The experience is sudden, familiar.

She looks down at her index finger, frowning at a small cut.

“Oh…”

She glances back at the fruit and vegetable plants the three of them had investigated earlier. How eagerly she had reached for the plants that reacted to the old metal detector! How reckless her approach, how rash she had been in tearing the fruits from their tethers! In her excitement to help, she had nearly dropped a tomato, she had forgotten to mourn the fallen onion, and, of course, the sharp spines of the cucumber she tore away pricked her skin. 

She stares in silence at the small wound as a drop of blood pools, snow white in color. In the blink of an eye, the liquid darkens, becoming the usual red. 

It is a subtle reminder of the unfortunate truth: she will  _ never  _ be human.

She grabs the shovel suddenly, plunging it into the dirt yet again. A lump rises in her throat, but she pushes the feeling down: it’s just a reaction, a response to the slight pain and hurtful thoughts from her own mechanical brain. She gently lays the plant down, covering its base with care. The task does little to ease the dread in her nonexistent heart, but she  _ desperately  _ hopes that something will distract her soon.

“ _ There  _ you are!” a voice calls, an iota of concern in its tone.

Alice stands beside the young woman, admiring her handiwork.

“ _ O-Oh! _ H-Hello, Alice,” Luna responds, caught entirely off guard. “I-I was just, uh, replanting this…”

She trails off, gesturing towards the newly planted skunk cabbage.

The other woman smiles, glancing down at the machine’s handiwork.

“It looks great!” she exclaims, genuine approval in her tone. 

Luna holds back a broad smile. She loves compliments: any acknowledgment of her hard work was thoroughly appreciated.

Alice glances behind her, watching Sigma poke curiously at the water.

“Well, we ought to go back, hmm?” she asks, gesturing subtly towards the crouching man.

Luna nods. She sets the shovel off to the side, giving a last bittersweet smile to the old skunk cabbage. 

“Goodbye, little one.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wooo I hope you tolerated this fic!! Luna is a fave and I think she's a super interesting character, so this was a blast to write! I'm sure I made a bunch of mistakes (oops) but hopefully I'll pop in to fix them soon.  
> (Also, a big thank you to the ZE crew and DGS crew for literally everything! You guys are the best!)
> 
> Happy 9th Birthday to VLR (wooooo the fun number)!


End file.
